An online fraudster has been sentenced to more than three years in jail after he was caught by police when his fake alias’ banking details matched up to Deliveroo orders delivered to a flat in Croydon.

Denis Kupcevich, 43, was found guilty of conning thousands of pounds out of bank customers as part of a criminal network.

He was discovered by cybercrime investigators to be using stolen identities to commit fraud and open bank accounts through which he would launder the illicit earnings.

Officers uncovered Kupcevich after they linked the banking details of one of his aliases to Deliveroo orders that were being delivered to a flat in Baines Close, South Croydon.

During a six-month surveillance operation, officers watched as Kupcevich moved between various high-end hotels and residential properties in London and Poole.

He and his criminal associates used the hotels bases for their criminal enterprise.

The criminal network would contact victims by phone, using social engineering tactics to win over their victims and manipulate people into handing over money.

One victim was defrauded out of almost £160,000 after an operator pretending to be from the bank called her to say that money needed to be transferred due to a security risk.

In another case, a victim was conned into paying £12,400 for a second-hand BMW, which they never received.

Kupcevich used stolen identities to commit his crimes, including the identities of two men, a Moldovan and a Bulgarian.

He obtained a fake Bulgarian passport and identity card using these stolen identities, which he then used to open numerous bank accounts for laundering the stolen money.

Kupcevich even created a fake estate agency called “Look4 Home” in February 2020, listing one of the stolen names as a director.

However, it was ultimately dissolved in August 2021 but more than £55,000 is believed to have been laundered through this bank account.

Officers arrested Kupcevich at the flat in Croydon in May 2022, and seized 10 mobile phones, four laptops and two bank cards in a different name.

Kupcevich first entered the UK illegally by using a false identity in 2004 and is a Belarusian national.

The investigation identified a large number of potential victim’s bank accounts, both personal and business, which the fraudsters had future plans to target.

Investigators were able to prevent the frauds from taking place and as a result estimated that more than £2 million pounds was prevented from leaving the accounts.

When questioned, Kupcevich admitted performing the role of a cashing out facilitator for a criminal network, where they deposited stolen money into his accounts – earning about 40 per cent of what was stolen.

Kupcevich was charged with one count of money laundering, two counts of possession of identity documents with improper intention and one count of articles for use in fraud.

He pleaded guilty to all the charges at Southwark Crown Court on 22 September and was jailed for three years and four months at the same court on Tuesday (11 April).

He will be deported after serving his sentence.

Timothy Court, of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “Kupcevich played a vital role in the criminal ecosystem by enabling fraudsters to conceal their activity and access their illicit earnings.

“By arresting Kupcevich, the NCA has starved criminals of this service and protected the public from those seeking to cruelly steal money from unsuspecting victims.”

If you have fallen victim to fraud or cyber crime, report it any time at www.actionfraud.police.uk.